Sebastian Vettel has said that his win in today’s Japanese Grand Prix was “very rewarding” as he battled back from a poor start to fight off teammate Mark Webber and Lotus’ Romain Grosjean to win the race by seven seconds on Sunday.

Vettel has been on a dominant run of form since the summer break, winning the past four races with relative ease heading into this weekend. However, it is clear that this was an important win for Red Bull and Vettel as he had to push throughout the race to make up the lost time.

“A very rewarding win today, it’s a great feeling,” Vettel said after the race. “I love this track and it’s just fantastic to win here.”

This marks Vettel’s fourth win at Suzuka in five years, but it very nearly didn’t happen after a poor start saw him drop down to third and make contact with Lewis Hamilton.

“It was a horrible start to be honest, we found ourselves sitting in third place and then tried to go longer in the first stint. I had great traction after I got past Romain and after that the only threat was Mark who got stuck behind Romain. We could then manage the gap until the end of the race.”

Vettel now heads to the Indian Grand Prix on the verge of clinching his fourth world championship, leading closest-challenger Fernando Alonso by 90 points. Therefore, if Vettel finishes in the top five (something he has done in every race he has completed this season), he will seal the title with three races to space.

It’s known as “Carburetor Day” – or in its simplest term, just “Carb Day.”

But the final day of on-track action Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before Sunday’s 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 is so much more.

Especially on NBCSN, which will have wall-to-wall live coverage starting Friday morning.

Here’s how Friday’s schedule breaks down:

11 a.m. ET: Carb Day kicks off with the final practice for Sunday’s Indy 500. The session will last one hour in length.

12 p.m. ET: We’re going racing! Strap in for coverage of the Indy Lights’ Freedom 100 on the famous Brickyard.

1:30 p.m. ET: We’ll have coverage of the annual IndyCar Pit Stop Challenge. Which teams have the best – and most importantly, fastest and accurate – pit crews? Team Penske has won 10 of the last 12, including the last two years edging out Schmidt Peterson Motorsports each time. Who can potentially beat them this year?

1) 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi will discuss how it used to upset him when people suggested he “backed into” his big win and how he didn’t really feel vindicated until he qualified on the front row for last year’s race.
2) Defending 500 winner Takuma Sato, the first Japanese driver to ever win at Indianapolis, discusses the impact of his big win personally and professionally, particularly back in his native land.
3) An essay by Robin Miller on Stefan Wilson giving up his ride last year to allow Fernando Alonso to race for Andretti Autosport.